1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to printer cartridges and, more specifically, to a drum ink-jet printer cartridge, having a plurality of printing heads, that operates in a rotary rather than a rectilinear manner.
2. Background Art
With the greater amounts of information being generated by computers, the development of printer technology has become increasingly important. One popular type of printer is the ink-jet printer. There are two types of ink-jet printers, the continuous jet type and the drop on demand type of ink jet printer. The continuous ink-jet printers project a continuous spray of ink drops from a small nozzle toward a recording medium. In contrast, the drop on demand ink-jet printers release droplets in response to signals from a controller. The controller causes changes in the pressure within the ink storage chamber of the printer cartridge resulting in a succession of droplets being ejected. Many advancements have been made in ink-jet technology due to continuing efforts to increase printer speed and to improve the resolution of printed images. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,936 to Helinski entitled Ink-Jet Printer, mentions an ink-jet printer with a rotary print head. U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,654 entitled Ink-Jet Printing Head Having Plurality of Ink-Jetting Units Disposed Parallel to Circular Shaped Reference Plane, discloses a specific multi-nozzle configuration for an ink-jet printer head. Also disclosing a multi-nozzle array, is U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,108 to Fujimoto entitled Ink-Jet Print Head and Ink-Jet Printer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,717 to Miura entitled Ink-Jet Printing Head Utilizing Pressure and Potential Gradients, discusses using both electrical field pressure gradients and air-jet pressure gradients to separate droplets from the ink in the cartridge.
I have observed that what is needed, but so far unaddressed, by the art is an ink-jet printer head that has a drum shape, that is capable of producing resolution exceeding 300 dots per inch, that is operated in a rotary rather than rectilinear fashion, that does not require mechanisms for rectilinear reciprocating motion, that has a plurality of ink-ejecting orifices, and is capable of increasing the print speed of the typical ink-jet printer. I expect that such a printer head will enhance the usefulness of the typical ink-jet printer and increase the number of applications for which it is suitable.